Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I'm a Domestic Goddess
I'm not sure if that's something I should brag about or not... Even so, I am proud that in the last 72 hours I have: cleared 1/3 of our overgrown garden, planted garlic, washed 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed and mopped 3 floors and two staircases, baked bread twice, made granola, made dinner for the house (shells stuffed with eggplant & ricotta, with tomato cream sauce, fresh/warm bread, fresh hummus with baked garlic, pesto [that I made last week]), prepared signs and displays for today's groundbreaking ceremony at work, stood outside in the cold and wind for 3 hours greeting guests (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/28/AR2008102801974.html), and... I think that's it. Now, some of this is explainable, but some of it's just outright madness. The vacuuming and mopping were my chore for this week. And it was my turn to make dinner for the house tonight. I didn't need to bake bread and make hummus for them, but I was inspired. Or at least I was until I had to clean it all up. It took prep work last night, waking up early to make dough this morning, getting off early, cooking for 3.5 hours, and cleaning up for 2 hours. That all said, it was really good, and I made some friends with my housemates. But I'm never doing that again. I'd better slow down before I hurt myself. I'm going to bed - right now.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Overdue Update
I've been in DC for two weeks, and I haven't posted! Sorry! It's hard for me to bring myself to the computer after an 8 hour day at my work computer. This week at work was a lot of reading. My boss was gone for a conference, and I had a few assignments. One was to contact all our FGU Grant (From the Ground Up) participants to see when they could meet for an end of season meeting. But I didn't have voicemail set up til Thursday, so they could only call me back during certain times. That was frustrating. I'm also supposed to meet with the head of every department, for them to tell me what they do. (All new hires go through this process.) But most of them were busy, so I only met with two. Basically, I didn't do much this week.
In between my projects, I was supposed to educate myself with a stack of books and some computer files. The days dragggged. I felt like I was sitting down to 8 hours of homework. On the upside, my boss wants me to see as much of the foodbank as I can, so I get to go on lots of little adventures. I went with Kenneth to the food drop at the Ambassador Baptist Church. That was a great morning. I sat at a table collecting personal info from the participants, then gave them a food ticket with a certain number depending on their circumstances. They were so grateful. When things slowed down, I got to sit around with Kenneth, who is an amazing & interesting guy. We talked about politics and the ways of the world... He went to college with Oprah Winfrey, he's from Clarksville (there actually was a "last train to Clarksville" and he was there to witness it!), and a tree fell on his car once, smashing everything but him. That afternoon/evening, I assisted teaching a nutrition class. I do that class for two more Thursdays. I got home at 8 that night, which made for a very long day. On Friday, my boss was back and we went out to the farm. That perked me up after a long week.
I'm still adjusting to life here, outside of work. When I get home, I have energy from sitting around all day. It's too dark or cold to go running, and the pool is closed. I don't want to get on the computer (that'd be just like work), and I don't really have anywhere to go. So I kind of wander around the house, looking for housemates to amuse me, which is tricky because I don't want to do anything sedentary. What I really need is a bike to get some of my energy out. I think it would take about as long to bike to and from work as it would to take the Metro. I was waiting for Thanksgiving in Goshen to get my bike, but someone told me that if I really like my bike, I'd better not bring it to DC. So I looked on Craigslist, and there's nothing under $40. I don't want to pay that much for a bike I won't be keeping. I don't know what to do.
Today I had big plans, but I ended up napping all afternoon. It was rainy and perfect for hibernating. I did make it to the market where I bought lots of fresh produce. I'm cooking on Tuesday for the house, and I'm going to make eggplant and basil stuffed shells with tomato cream sauce. I got a bunch of fresh basil from work, and I looked up recipes to use it in. I also made pesto, which I will serve with homemade bread. Oh, I love food. Tomorrow I still might accomplish some of my other plans: laundry, planting garlic, swimming, grocery shopping, making granola.
I got paid on Friday, which meant I could pay myself back for one week of food. I don't get paid for another two weeks, which will be a stretch. When divvied out, my $60 a month stipend is only $15 a week, and I'm dipping into some of that for food. That means I can buy maybe one croissant a week (I really love/miss pastries). If I can bike to work sometimes, I could use some of my transportation money for other things. It'd be really nice if we had clothespins, more dishrags, and a drying rack. Where are you Goodwill???
In between my projects, I was supposed to educate myself with a stack of books and some computer files. The days dragggged. I felt like I was sitting down to 8 hours of homework. On the upside, my boss wants me to see as much of the foodbank as I can, so I get to go on lots of little adventures. I went with Kenneth to the food drop at the Ambassador Baptist Church. That was a great morning. I sat at a table collecting personal info from the participants, then gave them a food ticket with a certain number depending on their circumstances. They were so grateful. When things slowed down, I got to sit around with Kenneth, who is an amazing & interesting guy. We talked about politics and the ways of the world... He went to college with Oprah Winfrey, he's from Clarksville (there actually was a "last train to Clarksville" and he was there to witness it!), and a tree fell on his car once, smashing everything but him. That afternoon/evening, I assisted teaching a nutrition class. I do that class for two more Thursdays. I got home at 8 that night, which made for a very long day. On Friday, my boss was back and we went out to the farm. That perked me up after a long week.
I'm still adjusting to life here, outside of work. When I get home, I have energy from sitting around all day. It's too dark or cold to go running, and the pool is closed. I don't want to get on the computer (that'd be just like work), and I don't really have anywhere to go. So I kind of wander around the house, looking for housemates to amuse me, which is tricky because I don't want to do anything sedentary. What I really need is a bike to get some of my energy out. I think it would take about as long to bike to and from work as it would to take the Metro. I was waiting for Thanksgiving in Goshen to get my bike, but someone told me that if I really like my bike, I'd better not bring it to DC. So I looked on Craigslist, and there's nothing under $40. I don't want to pay that much for a bike I won't be keeping. I don't know what to do.
Today I had big plans, but I ended up napping all afternoon. It was rainy and perfect for hibernating. I did make it to the market where I bought lots of fresh produce. I'm cooking on Tuesday for the house, and I'm going to make eggplant and basil stuffed shells with tomato cream sauce. I got a bunch of fresh basil from work, and I looked up recipes to use it in. I also made pesto, which I will serve with homemade bread. Oh, I love food. Tomorrow I still might accomplish some of my other plans: laundry, planting garlic, swimming, grocery shopping, making granola.
I got paid on Friday, which meant I could pay myself back for one week of food. I don't get paid for another two weeks, which will be a stretch. When divvied out, my $60 a month stipend is only $15 a week, and I'm dipping into some of that for food. That means I can buy maybe one croissant a week (I really love/miss pastries). If I can bike to work sometimes, I could use some of my transportation money for other things. It'd be really nice if we had clothespins, more dishrags, and a drying rack. Where are you Goodwill???
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Welcome to DC
I'm here - finally! I arrived yesterday with Jonathan and Stephan. We were the first to get to our site, except for Don of course, who stayed in New Windsor and walked 7 minutes to get to his project. It took about an hour to get from Baltimore to DC, and then we waited for an hour for our host to pick us up. Jonathan and Stephan are amAZed by the kindness here. Here's what happened on our first day:
- On the train, a guy heard where we were going and helped us make our stop. Then he helped us buy transfer tickets, got us through the turnstyle when Stephan's ticket didn't work, carried one of Stephan's bags, and dropped us off at our next train.
- While Stephan was waiting with our bags at Eastern Market station (Jonathan and I were finding food), a guy started talking to him about the city and gave him his number.
- When we went grocery shopping, the people in front of us in line and behind us in line started talking to us about DC, the best food markets, etc.
- When I got off the train in the evening, my ticket was for the wrong price, and I didn't have 65 cents, and the station manager just let me through.
After the first event, J & S both said about 5 times, "that would never, ever, ever happen in Germany." Apparently people from the South think that DC is cold and harsh, and people from the North think it's super friendly. I think it's super friendly!
Our house manager, Danielle, picked us up at the station and gave us a very brief tour of the house. Then I took a nap and the three of us ventured out to buy some groceries for our evening meal. Danielle had warned us about "sticker shock" in DC, and she was right - I bought a loaf of bread for $4! Between the three of us, we probably got 4 bags of groceries for $50. I went from eating for about $2 a day, to at least $15 dollars a day. BVS is going to exhaust their budget on us...
The house is old and a little run down, in Capital Hill, a nice area. Danielle said I could walk from the Metro station to my house at night by myself. Nice! The house is three stories, with a kitchen and bathroom on each floor. I would much rather have another living room than 2 extra kitchens... The basement has windows above ground and a living room. I live on the top floor with a roommate, Daniela (Dani) from Germany. There are now 4 Germans living here (11 people altogether). Dani got here 2 weeks ago from Germany, so we will be newbies together. She will only be here for 3 months. She works as an intern at the UN in some Latin American office - she speaks Spanish all day at work. I really like her!
The whole house is kind of like The Barn, only more transitional since people arrive and leave at all times of the year. The cupboards for instance, have a random assortment of pots and spoons all kind of shoved together. I couldn't find any lids! Nobody was home in the evening to welcome us except Dani, but my Goshen connections pulled through as I thought they might. I can't believe how many Goshen-ites are here... Dani and I met up with Hilary, Maryan, Landon, Dominique, Benj Yoder, Anna Mast, Micah Jost, Glenn. The last three were visiting, but still! We hung out at Dominique's apartment (they all live like 3 blocks away from each other, but across town from me), and then went to a really great club. There was no cover charge, everybody was dancing, people weren't too dressed up, and there were some great oldies mixed in with new music. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Stephan were at the house when some people came home, and they all went out together. I'm glad that worked out.
So! What else? We have a flat roof that is accessible, a little garden & picnic table out back, and a house bike. There's a house computer too, but most people seem to have laptops, which is great for me. I hate typing on laptops because my hand always brushes the cursor area, and the cursor jumps all over while I'm typing. Plus it's nice to have an English keyboard with the "y" and "z" in the "right" places. (I've been borrowing German laptops.) The ceilings in the house are tall, my room has three windows and a sink, the roads and sidewalks are wide, and the city is short. That is, there aren't many skyscrapers or anything, and the city is broader than it is tall. In that way it reminds me of Minneapolis more than say, Philly. It's really pretty (from what I've seen). We live about 5 blocks from the Capital Building, but I haven't seen it yet. There will be soooo much to see in this city - parks, museums, universities, rivers, governmental stuff. Maybe I'm in the honeymoon stage after all!
My address here is:
643 G. St. SE
Washington DC
20003
I don't know the house phone # yet. Ok, time to do some exploring. I have Monday off of work, so more time to settle in. It's been great to hear from you guys. I got one snail mail at orientation and it was so exciting and unexpected!
- On the train, a guy heard where we were going and helped us make our stop. Then he helped us buy transfer tickets, got us through the turnstyle when Stephan's ticket didn't work, carried one of Stephan's bags, and dropped us off at our next train.
- While Stephan was waiting with our bags at Eastern Market station (Jonathan and I were finding food), a guy started talking to him about the city and gave him his number.
- When we went grocery shopping, the people in front of us in line and behind us in line started talking to us about DC, the best food markets, etc.
- When I got off the train in the evening, my ticket was for the wrong price, and I didn't have 65 cents, and the station manager just let me through.
After the first event, J & S both said about 5 times, "that would never, ever, ever happen in Germany." Apparently people from the South think that DC is cold and harsh, and people from the North think it's super friendly. I think it's super friendly!
Our house manager, Danielle, picked us up at the station and gave us a very brief tour of the house. Then I took a nap and the three of us ventured out to buy some groceries for our evening meal. Danielle had warned us about "sticker shock" in DC, and she was right - I bought a loaf of bread for $4! Between the three of us, we probably got 4 bags of groceries for $50. I went from eating for about $2 a day, to at least $15 dollars a day. BVS is going to exhaust their budget on us...
The house is old and a little run down, in Capital Hill, a nice area. Danielle said I could walk from the Metro station to my house at night by myself. Nice! The house is three stories, with a kitchen and bathroom on each floor. I would much rather have another living room than 2 extra kitchens... The basement has windows above ground and a living room. I live on the top floor with a roommate, Daniela (Dani) from Germany. There are now 4 Germans living here (11 people altogether). Dani got here 2 weeks ago from Germany, so we will be newbies together. She will only be here for 3 months. She works as an intern at the UN in some Latin American office - she speaks Spanish all day at work. I really like her!
The whole house is kind of like The Barn, only more transitional since people arrive and leave at all times of the year. The cupboards for instance, have a random assortment of pots and spoons all kind of shoved together. I couldn't find any lids! Nobody was home in the evening to welcome us except Dani, but my Goshen connections pulled through as I thought they might. I can't believe how many Goshen-ites are here... Dani and I met up with Hilary, Maryan, Landon, Dominique, Benj Yoder, Anna Mast, Micah Jost, Glenn. The last three were visiting, but still! We hung out at Dominique's apartment (they all live like 3 blocks away from each other, but across town from me), and then went to a really great club. There was no cover charge, everybody was dancing, people weren't too dressed up, and there were some great oldies mixed in with new music. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Stephan were at the house when some people came home, and they all went out together. I'm glad that worked out.
So! What else? We have a flat roof that is accessible, a little garden & picnic table out back, and a house bike. There's a house computer too, but most people seem to have laptops, which is great for me. I hate typing on laptops because my hand always brushes the cursor area, and the cursor jumps all over while I'm typing. Plus it's nice to have an English keyboard with the "y" and "z" in the "right" places. (I've been borrowing German laptops.) The ceilings in the house are tall, my room has three windows and a sink, the roads and sidewalks are wide, and the city is short. That is, there aren't many skyscrapers or anything, and the city is broader than it is tall. In that way it reminds me of Minneapolis more than say, Philly. It's really pretty (from what I've seen). We live about 5 blocks from the Capital Building, but I haven't seen it yet. There will be soooo much to see in this city - parks, museums, universities, rivers, governmental stuff. Maybe I'm in the honeymoon stage after all!
My address here is:
643 G. St. SE
Washington DC
20003
I don't know the house phone # yet. Ok, time to do some exploring. I have Monday off of work, so more time to settle in. It's been great to hear from you guys. I got one snail mail at orientation and it was so exciting and unexpected!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
A Placement
Well folks, I know where I'm going. I'm going to Washington DC to work with the Capital Area Food Bank - my first choice! Yay! I'll be working with a branch that focuses on pairing organic food with people of low income. Before I thought that was the mission of the whole food bank, but it's just the branch I'll be in. It's a really small department. I'll be working with Susan Topping, her boss is Jodi, and there's one more woman in the department. I interviewed with Susan, and she told me that they can take someone, but it has to be through August because Spring and Summer are the fruits of the Winter work. And I agreed, because I really like the job. This is what I know of it:
In the Fall/Winter, I will be going to Food Kitchens that participate in our From the Ground Up (FGU) project to see how they're doing. When the season ends, we'll be interviewing them to see if there's anything we can do better next year, and maybe I'll be compiling the data. Then I will interview/assess who will be in the program next year. I will also be developing curriculum for a class (not exactly sure what yet). In the Spring, I will be getting the garden started and maintaining it, in addition to office work. In the summer when kids' groups come to the farm, I will possibly be assisting the teacher of those classes.
I will be mainly working with Susan, who is 7 months pregnant. When she goes on maternity leave, I'll be working with Jodi. They seem to be a tight knit group, so I think it will be okay. The commute is about 45 min from the BVS house to work, using public transportation. I might be able to get a bike though... :) The BVS house is big and located in a neat area, near Capital Hill (I think). Because of the type of work I'm doing, I am eligible to join AmeriCorps this year. BVS has a certain number of slots for this, and I get one! This means I will be logging my hours very carefully, and after about a year, I should get an education scholarship for my loans ($4725). I didn't imagine this possibility at all, and it's pretty exciting!
Two from my orientation unit will also be living at the BVS house. They are high school grads from Germany named Stephan (SHTEH-fhan) and Jonathan. There are other BVS-ers at the house already, and also people working for peace and justice with low income. I think about 14 can live there. One person is like the "house manager," so there will be some constancy in how things are run. Susan used to be the house manager there, so she's excited to be in that loop again. She already told me where there's a co-op nearby, and she's going to help me find a bike.
I have to go make supper - pizza! I feel like there's so much to say. I will certainly blog again when I can. I go to DC on Friday!
In the Fall/Winter, I will be going to Food Kitchens that participate in our From the Ground Up (FGU) project to see how they're doing. When the season ends, we'll be interviewing them to see if there's anything we can do better next year, and maybe I'll be compiling the data. Then I will interview/assess who will be in the program next year. I will also be developing curriculum for a class (not exactly sure what yet). In the Spring, I will be getting the garden started and maintaining it, in addition to office work. In the summer when kids' groups come to the farm, I will possibly be assisting the teacher of those classes.
I will be mainly working with Susan, who is 7 months pregnant. When she goes on maternity leave, I'll be working with Jodi. They seem to be a tight knit group, so I think it will be okay. The commute is about 45 min from the BVS house to work, using public transportation. I might be able to get a bike though... :) The BVS house is big and located in a neat area, near Capital Hill (I think). Because of the type of work I'm doing, I am eligible to join AmeriCorps this year. BVS has a certain number of slots for this, and I get one! This means I will be logging my hours very carefully, and after about a year, I should get an education scholarship for my loans ($4725). I didn't imagine this possibility at all, and it's pretty exciting!
Two from my orientation unit will also be living at the BVS house. They are high school grads from Germany named Stephan (SHTEH-fhan) and Jonathan. There are other BVS-ers at the house already, and also people working for peace and justice with low income. I think about 14 can live there. One person is like the "house manager," so there will be some constancy in how things are run. Susan used to be the house manager there, so she's excited to be in that loop again. She already told me where there's a co-op nearby, and she's going to help me find a bike.
I have to go make supper - pizza! I feel like there's so much to say. I will certainly blog again when I can. I go to DC on Friday!
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